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Freedom of Press Around the world WHAT IS FREEDOM OF THE PRESS? Freedom of the Press, an annual report on media independence around the world, assesses the degree of print, broadcast, and digital media freedom in 199 countries and territories. Published since 1980, it provides numerical scores and country narratives evaluating the legal environment for the media, political pressures that influence reporting, and economic factors that affect access to news and information. Freedom of the Press is the most comprehensive data set available on global media freedom and serves as a key resource for policymakers, international institutions, journalists, activists, and scholars worldwide. HOW IS FREEDOM OF THE PRESS PRODUCED? External analysts assess the 199 countries and territories, using a combination of on-the-ground research, consultations with local contacts, and information from news articles, nongovernmental organizations, governments, and a variety of other sources. Expert advisers and regional specialists then vet the analysts’ conclusions. The final product represents the consensus of the analysts, advisers, and Freedom House staff. WHO FUNDS FREEDOM OF THE PRESS? Freedom of the Press receives no governmental funding. Generous support comes from a range of private foundations and individual donors, including the Jyllands-Posten Foundation, the Hurford Foundation, the Lilly Endowment, the Stichting Democratie en Media, Free Press Unlimited, the Fritt Ord Foundation, the Reed Foundation, Kim G. Davis, Bette Bao Lord, and Ambassador Victor Ashe. In Japan Legal Environment Press freedom in Japan is constitutionally guaranteed and generally respected in practice. However, in December 2014, the restrictive Protection of Specially Designated Secrets Act went into effect amid opposition from international and local press freedom advocates as well as the Japanese public. Under the law, which had been passed in 2013, whistleblowers who leak vaguely defined “state secrets” can face up to 10 years in prison, while journalists who publish leaked information can face up to five years in prison. The law also grants ministers the power to designate certain information as state secrets for up to 60 years. In response to public criticism of the law after its passage, the Japanese government indicated that it would appoint an independent inspector to monitor implementation and handle disputes regarding classification. However, critics have questioned the independence of the inspector, who will be based in the administrative arm of the cabinet. Furthermore, the inspector will not have the authority to reject requests to restrict information, leaving final decisions to individual ministries. The position had yet to be filled at the year’s end. Japan’s freedom of information law requires government agencies to respond to requests for information within 30 days. The law also mandates an independent review board, which in practice tends to support the appellant seeking information. However, media freedom advocates have expressed concern over the potential of the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets Act to interfere with information requests. Political Environment While Japan’s media are generally free to disseminate diverse views, journalists and media freedom advocates have criticized media outlets’ coverage of the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant as inadequate, and have voiced claims that reporters frequently parroted information about the disaster that had been issued by government bureaucracies or by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which ran the Fukushima plant. The kisha kurabu (press clubs) system remains strong. The press clubs have long been at the center of concerns regarding the lack of diversity and independence in Japanese news media, as they foster cozy relationships with bureaucrats and politicians in which journalists are granted access in exchange for refraining from writing critical stories. Meanwhile, freelance and foreign journalists face routine discrimination, especially when reporting on issues related to Fukushima. Gender Inequality Around the world 1. Lack of Mobility Although there have been numerous protests, women are still forbidden to drive in Saudi Arabia, and must rely on their fathers or husbands to get from place to place. Similarly, in countries like Egypt and Bahrain, husbands have the right to stop their wives from leaving the country while other countries require written permission from a husband to travel. 2. Freedom of Marriage According to the UN, 40 percent of young women in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are married by their 18th birthday. Child marriage not only increases the chance of complications of giving birth that often prove fatal, but also contradicts the fundamental human right of choice of partnership. In Pakistan, women are expected to accept arranged marriages and refusal can lead to “honor killings” that typically go uncontested by the government. 3.Citizenship With the exception of Israel, Iran, Tunisia, and parts of Egypt, women in the Middle East do not have the right to pass citizenship on to their children while men have the ability to not only pass it to their children, but also to their non-national wives. In Japan Japan ranked 111th out of 144 countries in the World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Gender Gap Index, falling 10 places from last year. The country improved its standing in categories such as educational attainment and health, which includes life expectancy. But it struggled in terms of providing economic opportunity to women, dropping 12 spots to 118th place in the category. Compared to France and Finland, which have high levels of labor equality, Japan’s ratio of nonregular employees is disproportionately higher for women at 33.4%. Looking at housework, Japanese men spend roughly half the amount of time on domestic chores as their counterparts overseas, illustrating how traditional gender roles of working husband and stay-at-home wife remain firmly rooted in society.